IRFAN HASAN " COURBET TO GUDRUNG "

12th - 30th October 2015

“GudRung is an opaque watercolour painting method traditionally from Indo-Persian painting. Whilst the visual imagery is from Western painting” Irfan Hasan.

Grosvenor Gallery is pleased to present its upcoming exhibition, Courbet to GudRung, in association with Canvas Gallery, Karachi, to run from the 12th to the 30th October 2015. The show features new works by Pakistani artist IrfanHasan.

IrfanHasan was born in Karachi in 1982, and was trained at the National College of Art (NCA), Lahore, and part of the generation of Lahore School artists, graduating with a degree in miniature painting in 2006. For the last ten years, Hasan’s work has been stimulated by realism, and the work of Da Vinci and Rodin. In the last year Hasan’s work has been shown at Canvas Gallery, Karachi, Grosvenor Gallery (Present-Reinventions) and at Leila Heller Gallery, New York (Ethereal, curated by Dr Amin Jaffer).

The present body of work has been created in homage to western old masters such as Rembrandt, Rubens, Degas, William AdolpheBouguereau, as well as 20th century painters like Lucian Freud and Jenny Saville. During his youth Hasan’s only access to the world of western art and in particular the work of the old masters was through misprinted and rejected art books, collected from Lahori bookshops and markets. The impact of these images on the young artist cannot be overstated, and his current work is largely influenced by classical western ideals of beauty and strength. It is interesting to note that the artist has never seen the original works that have influenced those exhibited in Courbet to GudRung.
His depiction of nudes carries a deeper meaning than that of the purely aesthetic, as the depiction of nudes is a taboo subject in his native Pakistan, and is not widely appreciated as an art form. Like the old masters, Hasan studied anatomy to appreciate the science and theory behind physical characteristics, so as to be able to achieve a more realistic depiction of the human form.

At the NCA Hasanspecialised in Indo-Persian painting techniques, and here employs a method of opaque-watercolour painting, traditionally known as GudRung, to synthesise western classical ideals and traditions with ancient eastern techniques. Throughout his career Hasan has always tried to bridge the gap between east and west through a fusion of theory and practice. This technique allows the artist to create gloriously realistic depictions of his subjects in lifelike flesh-tones, and the opacity of the paint gives wonderful depth and contours to the images.
There will be an interview between IrfanHasan and Dr Amin Jaffer on the subject of his new work at Grosvenor Gallery on the evening of 12th October at 6:30pm.
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Grosvenor Gallery, 21 Ryder Street, London, SW1Y 6PX T: +44 (0)20 7484 7979 F: +44 (0)20 7484 7980 E: art@grosvenorgallery.com W: www.grosvenorgallery.com Gallery Hours:
Mon - Fri 9:30am - 5:30pm
Saturdays 12 - 4pm (During exhibitions)
Sundays closed